Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Review: Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales & Short Stories, Volume 4

Original Publication Date: 1854-1859
Genre: Classic Fairy Tales and Short Stories
Topics: Fairy Tales, Folk Tales
Review by : Becca Lostinbooks

I have always enjoyed fairy tales and folk tales, and Andersen is arguably the quintessential fairy tale writer.  I had not heard any of the tales on this volume I found on Librivox, so I downloaded it immediately.  From stories about maidens to stories about visits to interesting old men in towers, the stories are mostly delightful.

My favorite stories on this volume were A Leaf from Heaven, Jack the Dullard: A Story Told Anew, and Ole the Tower-Keeper (of which I imagined the GoT wall- ha.)  During each of these I found myself stopping whatever it was I was doing - whether cleaning or drawing - and I became very immersed in the story.

It helps all of my favorite stories also had good narrators.  There were over a dozen different narrators on this volume.  They ranged from really amazing (Jennifer Dorr nailed the sarcasm in Jack the Dullard) to the completely incomprehensible (the narrator's accent on the story, The Money Box, was so thick I wasn't entirely sure at times it was all in English).

So that is the downside of multiple narrators, but the upside is that I got to experience so many to learn whom I liked.  I went and looked up some of the better narrators, like Jennifer Dorr, Zachery Brewster-Geist, and Erin Lottes to see what else they had recorded for Librivox, while I also learned which narrators to avoid.  It is a good way to try out a lot of narrators in one go.

The Marsh King's Daughter, Source: Wikisource

Overall, the collection was great and I recommend listening to it if you enjoy Hans Christian Andersen's stories.


Download Fairy Tales and Short Stories, Volume 4 by Hans Christian Andersen at |Librivox|